“New name for old magazine- @SInow will become ‘Sports ELIMINATED.’ Kaepernick gets Ali Award. Heck I’ve played in as many NFL games this year as he has, but then he’s done a lot to destroy @NFL so makes sense,” Huckabee wrote, as reported by USA Today.

New name for old magazine- @SInow will become "Sports ELIMINATED." Kaepernick gets Ali award. Heck, I've played in as many NFL games this year as he has, but then he's done a lot to destroy @NFL so makes sense. https://t.co/54aaeJGSr9

“In the last 16 months, Kaepernick’s truth has been twisted, distorted and used for political gain. It has cost him at least a year of his NFL career and the income that should have come with it,” Sports Illustrated senior writer Michael Rosenberg wrote Thursday in a Sports Illustrated piece revealing their decision to award Kaepernick the honor.

“For all those reasons — for his steadfastness in the fight for social justice, for his adherence to his beliefs no matter the cost — Colin Kaepernick is the recipient of the 2017 Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award,” Rosenberg added.

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According to USA Today, 30-year-old Kaepernick is the youngest recipient in the award’s history.

“He has done a lot of work behind the scenes and under the radar with his charitable efforts,” Cannella said. “There’s no denying he’s been quiet, but we want this award to honor him because a lot of the noise has overshadowed his core message.”

Cannella also added that Kaepernick’s absence from the football field adds a symbolic quality to his protest.

“That fact that he hasn’t played in a game actually shows what he has sacrificed for standing up for what he believes,” he said. “There will never be another Muhammad Ali, but you can see the echoes of (Ali) in what Colin has done over the last 12 to 15 months.”